Nahed Bashatah
Although our religion clearly advises us against mocking and making fun of others, many people tend to engage in these negative activities, especially on social media. As an art, mockery can be found in all societies. Our ancient Arab poems and heritage are full of it. There is nothing wrong with mockery if it is used to criticize certain traditional values that are unsuitable to our Muslim society.
Plato and Aristotle talked about the link between humor and hostility. A person who mocks another must feel inferior which is why he tries to destroy the other’s image. But when this person mocks certain situations that happen in society, he is doing it to vent some bottled-up frustration.
Let us talk about the people who mocked and made fun of the Commission for Recreation and Culture and why they did it. Do we not need entertainment and recreation? I believe that all the people who made fun of the commission made a mistake and created a new negative stereotype about Saudi society. Western media portrays our society negatively and the last thing we need to do is to give them an excuse to promote these stereotypes.
If we want to criticize an action or a decision, we should give constructive criticism and suggest good ideas to resolve problems. We have to stop making fun of others, regardless of whether they are government officials or departments or members of the public. We need to be more aware of the fact that we are all in the same boat and work together to build a strong future.
